Gulf Bridge International (GBI), the Middle East's first privately owned submarine cable operator, and Tyco Telecommunications (search Lightwave for Tyco), a business unit of Tyco Electronics, have announced the signing of the Gulf Bridge International supply and construction contract. GBI's undersea cable network will connect the Gulf region states in a "Gulf Ring" system, in addition to an onward connectivity to Far East via India (east route) and Europe via Italy (west route). Service is anticipated to be ready by 2011.

Under the contract, Tyco Telecommunications will be responsible for the design, manufacturing, permitting, deployment, and testing of GBI's undersea cable network, as well as onward connectivity to Europe and India. Fulfillment of the supply contract is subject to pending United States government approvals.

"Signing the supply and construction contract is a major milestone for GBI in fulfilling its promise to be the leading independent undersea telecommunications network operator in the Gulf, and in defining a new paradigm of connectivity in the region," says Hamad Almannai, executive vice chairman of GBI. "During the course of negotiations, we were delighted to see Tyco Telecom's strong commitment to a successful and timely deployment of GBI Cable System," Almannai adds.

The GBI cable network, first to be installed in the region in five years, will provide a capacity of 2.56 Tbps with the option to upgrade to a true 64x40-Gbps per-fiber-pair, 5.18-terabit system, enabling real-time communications for telecom operators and other major industries, while advancing service offerings in the area.

"We are pleased to be awarded the supply and construction contract for the Gulf Bridge undersea network and to be a part of such a crucial project that will provide much-needed bandwidth in the Gulf region," says David Coughlan, chief executive officer, Tyco Telecommunications. "The system will be built using the latest fiber-optic and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) technologies, providing essential speed and reliability to the Gulf countries."